Goggle-supporting assembly for hard hats

ABSTRACT

A loop member, adapted to encircle a hard hat directly above its outwardly flared lower edge, is joined to the upper flange of a longitudinally curved and laterally opening channel member for receiving the rear portion of the flared edge. The lower flange of the channel member is provided with a tubular edge, through which a cord extends for connection to goggles.

United States Patent [191 Menold et a1.

[ Jan. 1,1974

[54] GOGGLE-SUPPORTING ASSEMBLY FOR 3,430,262 3/1969 Raschke 2/10 A H S 3,613,115 10/1971 Hill 2/10 3,703,750 11/1972 lrwin, Jr 2/10 [75] Inventors: Robert F. Menold, Monroeville;

James J. Summers, Bethel Park, both of Primary Exammer.lordan Franklin Assistant ExaminerPeter Nerbun 1 Asslgneei 1 y pP Company, Att0meyBrown, Murray, Flick & Peckham ltts urg a.

[22] Filed: June 29, 1972 [57] ABSTRACT [2]] Appl. No.: 267,380

A loop member, adapted to encircle a hard hat directly above its outwardly flared lower edge, is joined to the upper flange Ofa longitudinally curved and lap [58] Field X 8 6 erally opening channel member for receiving the rear v 5 portion of the flared edge. The lower flange of the channel member is provided with a tubular edge, [56] References Cited through which a cord extends for connection to gogles. UNITED STATES PATENTS g 1,729,051 9/1929 Parker 2/10 3 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures 1 GOGGLE-SUPPORTING ASSEMBLY FOR HARD HATS The use of goggles is often desirable or required for people, such as cqn s tr u ctign workers and miners, who wear protective hard hats. It is very desirable that the goggles be attached to the hats so that they do not have to be handled separately and will always be present when the hats are worn. It also is convenient to be able to move the goggles from in front of the eyes up into an inoperative position against the crowns of the hats when the goggles are not required or when the hats are removed. Various ways of attaching goggles to hats have been proposed, but for several reasons they yave not been entirely satisfactory.

It is an object of this invention to provide a gogglesupporting assembly for attachment to a hard hat, the assembly being such that it can be quickly and easily attached to hats of different sizes. Other objects are to provide such an assembly which will stay firmly in place, which will hold the goggles in both their operative and inoperative positions and which is relatively inexpensive to make.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 is side view showing the goggles in their raised or inoperative position against the crown ofa hard hat;

FIG. 2 is a plan view; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary cross section taken on the line lll-lll of FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawings, a typical hard hat 1 or cap is shown that has an outwardly flared lower edge surrounding it. This flared edge may have a uniform width entirely around the hat, be wider across the back of the hat or extend forward at the front of the hat to form a visor 2 or peak as shown. Encircling the hat directly above its flared lower edge is a flexible loop member, preferebly formed in two principal parts; a flexible rodlike rear member 3 that curves around the back of the hat and extends forward at its opposite sides, and a curved elastic member 4 extending around the front of the hat and connected to the ends of the rod member. Most suitably, the elastic member is a rubber tube, the ends of which are telescoped over the ends of the rod and secured to it in any suitable manner, such as by an adhesive or by sleeves 5 slidably mounted on the rod and movable forward around the ends of the tube, after.

it has been applied to the rod, to clamp the tube tightly against the rod.

Extending around the back of the hat is a curved channel member 7 disposed more or less on its side as shown in FIG. 3, so that it opens laterally to receive the adjoining portion of the flared lower edge of the hat. The upper flange of this channel member is joined to the rod-like member 3 ofthe loop, and the lower flange is provided with an enlarged edge 8 that is tubular. This edge may engage the bottom of the flared edge of the hat. The rod member and channel member can be formed inexpensively by extruding them as an integral unit from a plastic.

Extending through the tubular edge of the channel member is a cord 9, the opposite ends of which extend forward away from the opposite ends of the channel member. The ends of the cord are connected with goggles 10. This connection can be made directly to the goggles if desired, but preferably it is to the rear ends of attachment straps 11 that detachably connect the cord with the goggles. Either the cord or the straps, or both, are elastic so that the goggles can be held firmly in place against the face or pulled forward and swung up past the visor and then held against the crown of the hat as shown in the drawings.

The goggle-supporting assembly described herein is applied to a hard hat by simply lowering the loop member around the hat until the channel member 7 reaches the flared lower edge of the hat, and then the channel member is pulled backwardly by stretching elastic tube 4 sufficiently to allow the lower flange of the channel member to be lowered beneath the edge of the hat. Then, upon releasing the channel member, it will be pulled forward by elastic tube 4 into its operative position straddling the edge of the hat as shown in FIG. 3. To remove the assembly, this procedure is simply reversed. It will be seen that the assembly can be quickly applied to or removed from a hat of any size. The assembly remains securely in place on a hat unless a positive effort is made to remove it.

If desired, the loop member that encircles the hat can be made in one piece if the material of which it is made is elasticenough for it to be applied to a hat in the manner described in the preceding paragraph. Rubber is a suitable material for this purpose.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, we have explained the principle of our invention and have illustrated and described what we now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, we desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

We claim:

1. A goggle-supporting assembly for attachment to a hard hat having an outwardly flared lower edge, said assembly comprising a loop member adapted to encircle such a hat directly above its flared edge, a longitudinally curved and laterally opening channel member for receiving the rear portion of the flared edge, the channel member having an upper flange formed as a single unit with said loop member and having a lower flange provided with a tubular edge, and a cord extending through said tubular edge and forward away from its oppositeends for connection to goggles.

2. A goggle-supporting assembly according to claim 1, in which said loop member includes a curved rodlike member extending lengthwise of said channel member and beyond the ends thereof, and a curved elastic member connecting the ends of said rod-like member.

3. A goggle-supporting assembly according to claim 2, in which said loop mmeber and channel member are made of dielectric material, and said elastic member is a tube with its end portions telescoped over the ends of said rod-like member and secured thereto. 

1. A goggle-supporting assembly for attachment to a hard hat having an outwardly flared lower edge, said assembly comprising a loop member adapted to encircle such a hat directly above its flared edge, a longitudinally curved and laterally opening channel member for receiving the rear portion of the flared edge, the channel member having an upper flange formed as a single unit with said loop member and having a lower flange provided with a tubular edge, and a cord extending through said tubular edge and forward away from its opposite ends for connection to goggles.
 2. A goggle-supporting assembly according to claim 1, in which said loop member includes a curved rod-like member extending lengthwise of said channel member and beyond the ends thereof, and a curved elastic member connecting the ends of said rod-like member.
 3. A goggle-supporting assembly according to claim 2, in which said loop member and channel member are made of dielectric material, and said elastic member is a tube with its end portions telescoped over the ends of said rod-like member and secured thereto. 